Christian h



(No Mod el.)

- C. H. GOP-BEL.-

PNEUMATIG PROPELLER FOR CARS.

No. 376,984 Patented Jam-24, 1888.-

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' WITNESSES:

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UNrrnn STAT S PA E T IQFEICEQII" j cHRIsTIAN'HcoEB L, OFPHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNQRj BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, o THE.AMER'IOANPNEUMATIO nAiLwA coM- PANY, OF TENNESSEE.

- PNEUMATIC PROPELLER PF-ORCA'RS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,984, dated January24. 1888.

Application filed March 12, 1887 Serial No. 230,625. (No inodehl V I Toalliuhom it may concern.-

Be it k nown-that I, CHRISTIAN H. (301mm, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the 7 city and county of'Philadelphia. State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in PneumaticPropellers for Oars. which improvement is fully set forth in I thefollowing specification and accompanying drawings, inwhich- [0 Figure 1represents a longitudinal section of a pneumatic propeller for a carembodying my, invention. Fig. 2 represents a top or plan view thereof.Fig. 3v represents a section in line 90 x, v Fig. 2. Fig. 4 representsan end View thereof including a car and conduit on a reduced scale. r gSimilar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in, theseveral figures.

My invention consists of a pneumatic propeller for a car or othervehicle, formed of a tube containing a plunger and provided with gateswhich are successively opened by the connecting device of the plungerand car, said gates being normally'el'osed, so as to permit a vacuum inthe tube in the advance of the plunger, then opening to allow thepassage of the aforesaid connecting device, and finally closing, so asto permit the plunger'to be subjected to pressure at rear. By thesemeans the plunger, andconsequently the car or other vehicle, may bepropelled with great rapidity. It further consists of means forpreventing the car from leaving its tracks. Referring to the drawings, Arepresents a tube, which is properly laid in a trench or otherwisesupported, as desired,:and containing a plunger, B, which is properlypacked so as to have an air-tight joint with said tube. The upperportion of the tubehas a longitudinally 0 extending slot, 0, throughwhich passes an arm or bar, D, which is firmly secured to the plunger B..At the top of the tube are sliding gates E, which are adapted toclosethe slot (3, the same being'placed horizontally side by 5 sidethroughout the length of the tube and tongued and grooved so as to formtight joints between the edges that are in contact, the tube having aledge, F, which projects from the periphery thereof and serves tosustain the l gates E in their opening andclosingmotions 'lhe'gates haveslots G, which extend intransverse direction andreceive bolts H,whieh'are' secured-to the top of the tube at or about the ledge Fthereof," and serve to guide the gates and preventdisplacementthereof.Connected with each gate and its respective bolt H is a ispring, J, theobject whereof is to closethe {J- gate and hold it in closed position. VY

which is so disposed thatwhenit is in motion it strikes What may betermed the ,inner ends of the gates, and thereby forces thein laterally,whereby they are opened and the slot 0 is uncovered.

To prevent abrupt action of'the lugK on the gates, the latter have attheir corners in- I clined shoulders L, which are adapted to be struckby said lug, it being noticed that the space formed by the shoulder Lthereof prio'r I to contact with said shoulder, this construction of thecorners avoiding openings thereof when the gates are closed. I I V a Inthe wall of the'slot O opposite to the 7 ledge F is a groove, M,to'receive tongues 'N, formed on the inner ends of the gates E,.whereby'the gates when closed form tight joints with said wall.

ing the same. i I 7 v The operationis as follows: Air is exhausted inthe tube in advance of the plunger and whereby the plunger isforeiblypropelled, the car being, as is evident, carriedalong with thesame, the motion being of great rapidity.

l The arm or bar D has secured to or forjined I with it a wedge-shapedor inclined lug, K, 6

lug rides overeaeh corner of a gate in the ample time for the gates toclose before reachpressure created therein at the rear thereof, 5

The upper end of the' armor bar Dis cona a'msaa When the lug K reaches agate, it presses ter quickly closes, owing to the action of the springJ, the closing of the gate being occasioned before the rear of theplunger reaches said gate. whereby the air under pressure in the tube isprevented from escaping. As the lug K is behind the front end of theplunger, no gate is opened in advance ofsaid end. Consequently thevacuum in the tube in front of the plunger is preserved.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A device of the character described, having a slotted tube which isprovided with sliding gates having inclined shoulders,a plunger in saidtube, and an arm connected with said plunger, having a wedge-shaped lugadapted to be brought in contact with said inclined shoulders, the partsbeing combined substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A device of the character herein described, having a slotted tubewith slotted sliding gates thereon, a plunger with an arm provided witha lug, and the bolts H, secured to the top of said tube, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

3. A slotted tube and a plunger therein, in combination with slidinggates and opening and closing devices therefor, said gates havingtongues and grooves, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A slotted tube and a plunger therein, in combination with slidinggates and operating devices therefor, said tube and gates having groovesand tongues, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a device ofthe character herein described, a slotted tube, incombination with slot-ted gates thereon, having inclined shoulder L, aplunger with an arm provided with the wedge-shaped lug K,the boltsH,secured to said tube and located in the slots of said gates, andsprings adapted to close said gates, substantially as described.

, CHRISTIAN H. GOEBEL.

\Vitnesses:

, JOHN A. WIEDERSHEIM,

J AS. F. KELLY.

